Superman and The Family Fantastic
by AliusNeo
Summary: S.H.I.E.L.D. has ordered Spiderman to keep Superman out of the public eye. In an effort to help Spiderman, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four has offered a room at the Baxter Building to Superman. With only a day and half left in the Marvel Universe, Superman finally has a chance at some rest and relaxation...
1. A Fateful Meeting

_Lex Luthor had declared War against The Man of Steel when he orchestrated the destruction of the Metropolis Bay District, killing over ten thousand people. While trying to escape, Lex beat Kara to near death; leaving her for Superman to find. Lex retreated to his lab and tried to engage an experiment of his; when Superman intervened however, the experiment backfired and ended up throwing the two across universes._

_The two ended up in the Marvel Universe. Superman; who was captured by the Avengers, became panicked when he learned that he was no longer on his own Earth, and made a mistake that would be the key Luthor needed to turn the Avengers against Superman._

_After a confrontation between Superman and The Avengers, who were led by Lex Luthor himself; Lex was shown for his true colours and The Avengers suspended their agreement with him. Now Superman is fully recovered from his battle, but remains lost in the Marvel Universe. Soon after his recovery, Superman was approached by a strange figure who had been searching for him on behalf of the Monitors of the DC Multiverse. The strange figure informed Superman that he would have to wait for three days until his companions would find him. This is the story of those days..._

\- "Still round the corner there may wait  
A new road or a secret gate,  
And though we pass them by today,  
Tomorrow we may come this way  
And take the hidden paths that run  
Towards the Moon or to the Sun."

_From:"The Traveling Song" By J.R.R Tolkien_

_((Authors Note: In order to get the set-up for this story, make sure you check out the 'Epilogue' chapter of "Superman and The New Avengers". Which is up now!))_

Chapter 1

**Day 2/ 2:20 PM**

"Welcome to the Baxter building Mr. Kent." Peter Parker said as he and Clark entered the waiting room for the Fantastic Fours home base. Clark was blown away at the luxury of just the lobby. "You seem thoroughly shocked and awed." Peter laughed as he saw how Clarks jaw seemed to drop when he saw how high the ceiling was. "Just wait; this is nothing compared to Reeds lab. That place is science heaven!" Peter rushed towards the elevator; "Come on! I can't wait until you meet Dragon Man."

"Dragon Man? What's he do?" Clark asked intently as the elevator arrived and the two climbed on board.

"You'll see." The mischievous tone in Peters voice was well hidden, and even Clarks super hearing didn't pick it up. "He's great with kids." The door shut behind them as Peter hit the button for the penthouse suite. "He can fly too; you two could... oh. Sorry."

Peter had momentarily forgotten that Fury had ordered Spiderman to keep Superman grounded and out of the public eye. Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. were under the impression that the public was terrified of Superman; and after Spiderman had finished reading the Avengers case-file on their battle with Superman; he couldn't believe that they were talking about the same Superman.

"It's alright." Clark interrupted with a kind smile as the elevator ascended up the building. "I could use a few days of R&amp;R after everything that's happened in the last three days. I mean it was only this morning that I was mind controlled by... what did you say he calls himself?"

"Psycho-Man" Peter interjected as the elevator began to slow, indicating that they were approaching their destination. "Ugly spud that he was. Let's try not to think about that now." The elevator came to a halt, jerking itself slightly before stopping on the penthouse floor. "For now; let's focus on getting you acquainted with Casa de Richards." The doors parted, revealing one of the most futuristic living quarters Clark had ever seen; the kitchen, tv room and dining rooms were all divided by glass walls, and there were several large picture frames which had to be digital, because they were shifting through different pictures of the Richards family.

"This is amazing!" Clark said as he walked out into the area and began to examine the surroundings; he almost expected it to look like one of Lexes penthouses, but this was something else entirely. "How do they afford all of this?"

"I guess you never studied up on Reed and the FF while you were reading through those papers the other day." Peter laughed lightly as he began to lead Clark to a door near the back of the dining room. "Before they got their powers, Reed and Sue were some of the worlds top scientists; they still are, but now they have super-powers. You can only imagine how well being a super-powered government scientist pays." Peter extended his hand to the door, and as his palm became flat upon it, there was a small light that took a scan of Peters palm print. "And everyone knew as soon as it happened to them; they couldn't have hid it if they had tried."

"Isn't it risky for you to be showing up here dressed up in civilian wear?" Clark asked with great concern as the door parted open.

"Nah; I used to intern for Reed when I was in college. Peter Parker has every reason to be stopping by on occasion." The two made their way into the room, it was rather plain, with no windows or furniture to speak of. "Hello?" Where's the welcome party? Peter called out, making his voice sound slightly disappointed. "Is this any way to treat your fist-call reservist?" As Peter shouted out playfully, another door from across the room parted open to reveal the tied back blonde hair and bright blue eyes of Susan Storm Richards.

"No need to shout Peter." Susan said as she made her way towards Clark and Peter with a bright smile on her face. "We saw you when you came in; I was just talking with Ben and Franklin."

"Where is Franky? Wouldn't mind saying hi to the little guy before I head out." Peter approached Susan and embraced her in a light hug. "And where's everyone else?"

"Johnny is out on a date; Ben is playing with Franklin; and Reed is in his lab." Susan laughed as she mentioned Reed, as if to say, "where else would he be?"

"So Johnny is gone and Reed is playing with his toys; excellent." A wide grin cut across Peters face as he turned to face Clark. "I guess Reed told you that you were having a house guest for the next day or so. I'd like you to meet Mr. Clark Kent. Though technically you've already met, right?"

"Actually, we never did." Susan interjected quickly as she approached Clark, extending a warm hand to him. "I'm Reeds wife; my name's Susan Storm Richards; though some people call me the Invisible Woman." Clark reached out and shook her hand, returning the smile.

"It's a pleasure. Your home is absolutely fantastic." A light giggle escaped from Susan as Clark realized the pun he had just made.

"Thank you Mr. Kent. If you'd like I can show you where you'll be staying tonight." Susan motioned Peter and Clark to follow her, and they all began to make their way back to the elevator.

**Day 2/ 2:40 PM**

"I still don't get why you don't just accept Reeds job offer Peter." Susan said as the three of them made their way from the guest quarters and towards the play room, where Ben and Dragon Man had been left to play with Franklin. "You're a scientist like us; not a photographer. You belong in the lab with Reed."

"I've been giving it a lot of thought actually." Peter said sternly as he looked up to Susan; Clark suddenly felt with a third wheel to the conversation. "Over the last couple years I've had offers from Stark, and Horizon. Even S.H.I.E.L.D. has tried to wrangle me in a few times."

"Well think faster. Reeds starting a new project and he wants your help. He just received the parts he requested from S.H.I.E.L.D." Peters smile suddenly faded as he remembered how Reed had requested access to the piece of Kryptonite... his attention was quickly brought back to the moment by the sound of Franklin laughing happily.

"Higher Uncle Ben!" Franklin shouted. "I'm Superman! I can fly higher than this!" Clark and Peter looked towards each other, and Clark couldn't help but smile, slightly embarrassed.

The three of the entered the room to see that Ben Grimm and Dragon Man had a sheet and were using it to launch Franklin into the air, where Franklin would make a pose as if he were flying. Franklin was wearing a red towel tied around his neck; with an 'S' written on his white t-shirt with permanent black marker. "Hey there little man; hope you're being careful with him Benjamin." Susan said as she approached, casting Ben a disapproving glance. "This isn't exactly the safest game."

"Aw lighten' up Suzzy. He's seven years old; let the kid have some fun." Ben said in a grizzly voice as he and Dragon Man launched Franklin into the air again. "Ever since him an' Johnny watched dem news reports yesterday 'bout Spidey n' Superman goin' 'round, helpin' deli-owners and regular Joe's; he's wanted to fly just like Supe's. An' this wuz the closest I cud get to't. " As Franklin came down again, he motioned to his Uncle Ben to let him down.

"Thanks Uncle Ben! Thanks D-Man!" Franklin said as he ran up and gave Dragon Man a big hug. Clark began to stare as he saw the large Dragon-like man-creature smile with joy as the child embraced him.

"Think nothing of it young Franklin." His voice was soothing, a large contrast towards his outward appearance. Clark was even more shocked as Dragon Man reached out to a nearby table and picked up a book on quantum mechanics and a pair of reading glasses.

"Uncle Peter; Uncle Peter!" Franklin shouted as he ran towards Peter, who reached out and rubbed at Franklins hair.

"Hey Franky. How's it shaken?" Franklin reached up and moved Peters hand from his head, then looked up at him with excited eyes.

"You were working with Superman! That is so cool!" Franklin shouted as looked back to his mom. "People say that he's not good; but they said the same thing about Uncle Peter, and he's the best! And my dad says that Superman just wants to help people." Franklin looked from Peter and towards Clark. "Who're you?" Franklin asked with a curious tone.

Clark looked to Peter with a wide grin across his face. "My names Clark Kent." He said as he took off his glasses and handed them to Peter. He then reached up to the zipper on his hoodie and lowered it enough to reveal his own 'S' insignia that was hidden underneath. Franklin s eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped as he gazed up at the colourful symbol. "I like your t-shirt."

_In Reed Richards private lab; only several floors above..._

Reed went through the crate that S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent to him. Until the recent arrival of Superman and Lex Luthor; Reed had never given any real thought to the idea of alternate realities. He had heard about Peters supposed encounter with an 'evil' version of himself; but Reed had always figured Peter had just had a very vivid dream. The recent events had him going back, and re-thinking his approach to the idea.

The crate opened, and Reed could see the large device, the initials 'In.D' engraved into the side. This was Victor Von-Dooms own attempt at an inter-dimensional rift generator; and if Lex Luthor had been able to make one, then Reed was convinced that he had everything he needed to try and open his own portal to another world...

_((Authors Note: So this is it for Chapter 1. I hope you all enjoyed the start of Supermans introduction to Marvels first family. You can expect this story to have a far lighter tone than my other stories; but I still plan on throwing some bad-guys at Superman while he's with the FF. And because I feel like spoiling the first story arch; you can expect Reeds research to play a 'big' role in what madness will transpire in this building in the next few chapters! Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter, sorry it's shorter than usual.))_


	2. Analogous

Chapter 2

**Day 2/ 3:45 PM**

Laughter cascaded throughout the halls of the Baxter building as Peter Parker, Susan Richards and Benjamin Grimm all laughed as Clark Kent told a story about many years ago. "And then; Bruce pulled off his mask, scratching at his head like he had a bad case of lice. Dick was on the floor, he was laughing so hard." Clark wiped a tear away from his eye as he looked down to Franklin Richards, who sat next to his mother with a bright smile on his face. "Bruce was so itchy he started using the horns on his mask to scratch at his head; I've never seen anyone so relieved and so angry at the same time." Clark burst into laughter as he recalled the vivid which was etched into his memory.

"That couldn't have been the end of it." Peter said as he tried to hold in his laughter momentarily.

"Oh no. Bruce got him back the next April Fools Day. I wasn't there for that one though. Dick must have forgotten what he had done because Bruce was able to convince him to test pilot a new armored suit he had developed. Bruce laced the whole inside with the same itching powder and programmed the suit to lock itself permanently with someone other than himself in it." Peters mouth began to hang open as an empathetic look came over his face. Susan covered her mouth as she began to stifle her laughter; Franklin looking up to her and giggling to himself.

"That sounds worse than what Peter and Johnny do to each other." Susan said as she looked over to Peter, who grinned mischievously at her.

"Oh, I'm taking notes on this. Johnny wont know what hit him." Peter said as he turned to Franklin and winked. "I'll give you some pointers on how to get at your Uncle if he ever tries to prank you, little buddy." A friendly hand reached out and rubbed at Franklins head as Ben laughed to himself.

"You an' Johnny is rank amateurs m'pared tuh me." Ben caught Franklins' attention; and Bens' rock-like facial features contorted into a serious expression; "If you wants pointers Franky, you come find me." Franklin began to laugh as Ben raised his brow and made it protrude slightly, giving his features a very silly look.

Franklin continued to laugh as Susan looked down to the watch on her wrist. "Alright little-man; its almost four o'clock now. You should have been back to your studies over twenty minutes ago."

"Aww, but Mom." Franklin pleaded as he looked up towards his mother with a puppy dog expression.

"Don't you try that look on me." Susan said with a devilish grin. "I wont fall for it like your father or your Uncle Johnny will. Now get your keister down to the library mister."

Franklin rose from his spot with a defeated look on his face and began to make his way out of the room. As he passed Clark he looked up at him with a bright smile. "Do you want to watch Adam Wests Catman with me later? I like to watch it before bed time."

Clark smiled down towards Franklin as he glanced over to Susan. "So long as it's okay with your mom." Clark said as Susan approached, nodding to Clark as she placed a hand on Franklins' shoulder.

"Ben usually watches it with him; I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"D'more D'merrier." Ben chimed in as he got off the couch and began to glare at Franklin with a playful grin. "I don't see no homework gettin' done Franky. You know what that means." Ben extended his fingers as Franklins' face lit up with fear. "It's ticklin' time!" Ben called out as he began to run after Franklin, who ran out of the room; trying to avoid his uncle Ben now that he had become the dreaded 'Tickle-Monster'.

Clark laughed to himself at the continued sounds of Ben chasing after Franklin before he turned towards Susan. "He's a nice kid. Reminds me a lot of myself at his age."

The sound of a door opening drew everyones' attention towards the elevator at the other end of room, they all swung around to the sight of Reed Richards, wearing his Fantastic Four uniform under a white lab-coat; followed closely by Agent Philip Coulson. The two men were both smiling and chuckling to each other as they saw Susan, Peter and Clark in the family room. "Peter Parker." Reed approached Peter and gave him a hand-shake. "Welcome back. I was hoping you'd stop by. I could really use you help on my new project."

Peter looked over to Susan, who grinned back at him as if to say '_I told you so_'. "Uh- I, um..." Peter stuttered as Reed moved back, seeing the conflict in Peters eyes. "I don't know Reed." Peter said as a disappointed look came over Reeds face.

"Sorry to interrupt you Reed." Agent Coulson said as he looked towards Peter. "But I need to have a word with Mr. Parker." Peter gave Coulson an angry look; their last talk hadn't ended well, and Peter had learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. was keeping valuable information from him about the true fate of his thought-to-be-dead clone, Benjamin Reilly.

"We don't have anything to discuss." Peter said with an air of anger. Susan looked at Peter with a look of shocked confusion; wondering what could have made Peter speak to Coulson like that.

"Yes. We do." Coulson said, remaining as stone-faced as he could. Yet, despite years of training against it; Coulsons eyes gave way to the desperate urge he felt to make amends. As Peter saw this, the anger he felt began to retreat. Peter had learned in his many years of dealing with S.H.I.E.L.D. that Coulson was one of the good ones; and that he owed Coulson better than the attitude he was giving him now. "Ten minutes. That's all I need from you."

Peter looked over to Clark, casting him a light grin. "I'll be right back." Peter and Coulson began to walk off together towards one of the isolated room, as they walked, Clark saw Coulson look over to Peter, and although he didn't mean to, he heard Coulson say two words.

"I'm sorry."

"So, Mr. Kent." Reed said cheerfuly as he walked towards Susan and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "How do you like my home?"

"It's, uh, remarkable." Clark said, almost using the word 'fantastic' again to describe the Baxter Building. Before Clark continued, he could see Susan grinning at him, laughing lightly to herself. Reed looked over to her with a confused look as Clark continued. "I know that this building exists in my version of New York; but the whole thing is rented out to individual companies. A few members of the Justice League actually have offices there." Clark remembered the many times he had been invited by Ted Kord to visit his own personal offices there; but there was always something that had come up and he never had found the time.

"Fascinating." Reed remarked as he sat down on the nearby couch that Clark had been sitting on just moments before. "I've never really given any serious thought to the idea of alternate realities until now." The look of wonder in Reeds eyes as he began to look out into the distance was almost entrancing. "So; if you don't mind me asking; is there a Reed Richards in your world?"

"I'm actually not too familiar with your history Dr. Richards." Clark said as he scratched his head. "All Peter told me was that you were a scientist before you all received your powers... he didn't mention how."

Reed grinned as he began to shake his head. "Of course he didn't." Sue said almost laughing as she sat down next to Reed and leaned back. The two exchanged a look, and Reed was waiting for Sue to start telling the story when she waved her hand through the air, her palm facing the ceiling. Reed knew that this was her way of telling him to have fun with it.

"It all began, well almost ten years ago now." Reed began to explain to Clark the details about the cosmic rays that bombarded his space shuttle with Sue, Johnny and Ben inside it with him. As Reed spoke, Clarks look of intrigue turned to one of realization. Clarks mouth began to hang open at he looked at Reed with a sense of held-back fear.

Reed took notice of Clarks looks of discomfort and quickly ended his story. "I'm sorry Mr. Kent; did something I say offend you?" Reed was becoming worried by the glare that Superman seemed to casting towards him as his hands began to clench up on his knees.

"Does...I mean; here. Do you know a Hank Henshaw?" Clark looked up to Reed with an intense look in his eyes; his grip on his knees began to loosen.

"I don't... wait." Reed said as his mind began to scan through his memory. "I think Bens mother's maiden name was Henshaw." Reed said as he looked over to Sue, who nodded her head to confirm. "Other than that, no it doesn't ring any bells." Reed could see the level of tension that Clark seemed to be putting himself under, and quickly became very curious as to why.

Sue leaned in from her spot next to Reed. "What does the name mean to you?"

Clark reached up and took the glasses off of his face. He then folded in the sides and began to look at his reflection in the lenses; holding them down by his knees. A look of sadness overtook him as he began to recount his encounter with Hank Henshaw...

Clark told the story of the man and his wife, who went up in a LuthorCorp shuttle with two other scientist and were bombarded with radioactive space waves from an unknown origin. The scientists however, all met with tragic ends. Hank Henshaw was the only member of the crew who was able to survive; having gained the ability to transfer his consciousness to computerized carriers, the rest died from radiation poisoning. Clark also told Reed how Hank Henshaw blamed Superman for the events that led to the death of his crew; and had sworn to take revenge; even posing as a Cyborg-Superman in order to ruin Supermans name.

After Clark had finished telling the tale, Reed was even more unsettled than Clark had been. Reed stood from his spot, his hands shaking as Sue stood up and put a comforting hand on Reeds shoulder. "I'm sorry." Clark said with remorse as he put his glasses back on. "I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"I always knew how lucky we were to have survived that incident." Reed said in a low tone as he took hold of Susans' hand.. "I've always tried to accept what happens. I don't believe in fate, but I believe that what happens is set. Until now; and meeting you Mr. Kent, I've never given much thought to how things could have been different... How many times do you think it's happened?" Reed asked as he look up into Clarks' eyes. "How many universes can there possibly be?"

_Elsewhere in the Baxter Building..._

Coulsons closed the door behind him as he and Peter Parker entered the private meeting room. As Coulson turned around, he could see Peter had his arms crossed as he stood in the middle of the room, a mixed look of discomfort and guilt across his face. "So..." Coulson began as heclapped his hands together. "Benjamin Reilly. Alias, P.K.R.-2."

"Don't call him that." Peter said almost instinctively as his voice cracked with anger. His fists clenched as he remembered how Fury wouldn't even acknowledge Ben as a person. "Tell me everything."

There was a silence that lingered between them as Coulson took in Peters state. He had never seen him with such fire in his eyes before; Coulson could feel the resolve in his voice and knew that he couldn't keep his promise any longer.

"It happened four months ago." Coulson began. "I was in Montreal working with Alpha Flight. Taskmaster had smuggled a gamma-bomb into Canada, and we had tracked him to a populated area in the entertainment district." As Coulsons spoke he removed an antique coin, both sides of the coin had the head of Queen Elizabeth. "The team and I were ambushed by a group of mutants who had signed up under the Taskmaster; only Northstar and myself were able to continue on towards the gamma-bomb."

Coulson took a moment as he flipped the coin through his fingers, palming the coin as he continued. "As we closed in on Taskmaster, Northstar went after the bomb as I did what I could to hold off Taskmaster." Peter uncrossed his arms as he began to imagine the nerve Coulson had to have shown to take Taskmaster on one-on-one. "He ended up tossing me through a window, and then he tossed an incendiary grenade out after me for good measure."

Coulson took a deep breath as he pocketed the antique coin. "I grabbed onto a lamp post as I was coming down and pulled my arm from its socket. There was a crowd of people around when the grenade went off. There was a storm of fire that rained down as people scattered in all directions." A sad look came over Coulson. "Buildings were set ablaze as the gasoline from the grenade spread over like a cloud of flame. As I tried to take a breath, my skull still pounding, I heard her scream. She was no older than nine years old. " Coulson reached his hand up and began to rub at his eyes; Peter could tell that reliving this wasn't easy for him.

"I shouted at her to run. But she didn't budge. She just stood there, screaming. I called out, 'save her'. I shouted it as loud as I could. But no one around me even looked back... A jeep exploded not far from where she was standing; one of its' tires came flying at me, so I ducked out of its path... When I looked back, there was a pile of flaming wreckage where she had been standing." Coulson looked back up into Peters' eyes. "Guardian and Shaman arrived moments after and helped to supress the flames. They told me that Taskmaster had been neutralized and that Northstar had disarmed the bomb. The day was saved." Coulson began to compose himself before he continued.

"I went over to the wreck to look for the girls remains, but there was nothing but burnt metal." Peters eyes' widened momentarily before a warm smile crept over Coulsons' face. "Then I heard her screaming again; but this time she was calling for her mother. I swung around and there she was; wrapped up in a mans' arms as he carried her to her mother. I couldn't believe what I was seeing... She was saved." Coulson took a moment to smile to himself. "When the woman took her child, the rescuer lifted up his hat that covered his long red hair... He had your face. He smiled to them. I couldn't tell you what he said to them after, I was shocked by what I was seeing. So I called out your name." Peters' face grew warm as a proud smile broke through. "He ran, and I couldn't catch him. He was easy enough to track down though." Coulson reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of a man who looked exactly like Peter except for having long red hair. "When I confronted him and told him I was with S.H.I.E.L.D. he confessed to who he really was. He only asked me to keep his existence a secret from you."

"This is him. He is alive." Peter smiled as he gazed into the picture. Ben had been the closest thing he had ever had to a real brother. The smile was soon replaced by a look of sorrow as Peters' eyes began to tear up. "Why did he make me think he was dead? Why would he do this?"

Coulson extended a sympathetic hand to Peters shoulder. "He didn't say. But if you want me to, I can take you to him. Then you can get all the answers you want." Peter turned to face Coulson, his tears swelling up as he began to wonder why the closest thing to a brother he had ever had, decided to abandon him.

"I can have a jet ready in two hours. We can be there in 3." A look of determination and anger came over Peter as he wiped the tears from his face. "Are you okay?" Coulson asked; seeing the cross look upon Peter.

"I'll be fine." Peter said as he turned to Coulson with a smile. "I can keep it together until we get to Montreal." Peter walked over to the door and held it open for Coulson. "Shouldn't keep Reed and CK waiting too long though. Isn't S.H.I.E.L.D. afraid that the two of them could blow up the world accidentally?"

Coulson laughed as he followed Peter out the door. "When is that not a possibility when it comes to Reed Richards? He's never let any of us down though; always cleaning up his own messes before they spill over for the rest of us to with. I can't imagine a world where we would have to actually take action against him." Peter and Coulson walked down the hallway and back towards the area that they had left Clark and the Richards family.

As Peter and Coulson turned into the room, the loud and cheerful voice of Johnny Storm called out to them. "Well, well, well. If it isn't our friendly neighborhood laxative-man." Johnny said with a mischievous snark as Peter glared at Johnny. "Again, I'm sorry you shared the cake with Betty. I hope she's still not mad."

"That reminds me. We wrote a poem for you." Peter said with a grin as he reached into his pocket and removed a small folded up piece of paper. Peter opened up the paper and began to clear his throat. Coulson looked over Peters' shoulder and smiled; holding back his laughter. "You're flame, is lame. You made me sick. Peter took a picture of you. And in this pic, your nose, you did pick. But upon that pick, did this lame-flame-brain decide to flick?" Peter took a momentary pause as he looked towards Johnny. Clark, Reed and Susan all looked towards him with bright smiles on their faces

"That's not funny." Johnny said with a disgruntled look.

"That's because I haven't hit the punch-line yet." Peter cleared his throat again. "No. He did something else that makes me sick." Everyone is the room made a collective disgusted noise as they all looked to Johnny.

"Very funny Parker. Until you see some real proof don't go reading too much into it." Johnny said as he walked up to Peter and tossed his arm around his neck. "That was nice though. Thanks." Johnny and Peter exchanged a look that indicated that there was a prank war to be had.

"Okay you two. Let's play nice." Reed said as he stretched his arm up and separated Johnny and Peter. A phone began to ring, the noise coming from Coulsons' jacket.

Coulson excused himself for a moment. He returned with a confused expression. "That was Tony Stark. He says that Namor is throwing boulders at his Miami estate."

An aggravated groan escaped Superman. "Again? What is that guys' problem?" Everyone looked over to Clark, surprised that he knew who Namor was.

"So you do know him. Apparently he wants to challenge you." Coulson said as a determined look came over Clarks face. He reached up and removed his glasses.

"If he wants to go a second round, I can have him dealt with in an hour." Clark said as he reached up to start removing his sweater.

"No!" Coulson said in a worried tone as he held his hand up, signaling Clark to stop. "You can't be there. News crews are just arriving. There can be no more incidents involving Superman. Furys' orders stand." The tone in Coulsons' voice almost sounded like he was pleading with Clark.

His zipper on the sweater move back up its' track. He then put his glasses back on. "Okay. I understand." Clark said in a defeated voice as he tried to hide the hurt expression on his face.

"Parker." Peter was looking at Clark with an empathetic frown, he turned his attention to Coulson. "If you want, we can go deal with this. Then we can deal with that other thing." Clark looked over to Peter with a confused look.

"Yeah, sure." Peter said as he looked back to Clark. "Are you going to be alright here CK?"

Clark looked around to the others, he knew that this place would be good for staying out of trouble. "I'll be fine Peter. Go. Try to punch him in the nose. I softened it up." A smile crept over Clarks face that made Peter grin.

"I'll keep that in mind." Peter said as he and Clark shook hands. "I'll try and stop by before you leave. There's something I have to do after this Namor thing." Peter and Coulson began to leave before Johnny Storm began to follow after them.

"Think I'll join you. I've just been recovering all day. Could use a good workout." A wide smile crept over Peters' face as he looked back over.

"When Namor tosses you into the ocean, I'm going to take so many pictures." The three continued down the hallway as Couslon began to brief the two on the situation.

Susan meanwhile approached Clark and asked with an intrigued curiosity, "So how do you know Namor?"

**Day 2/ 4:28 PM**

**-END CHAPTER-**

{{**AUTHORS NOTE:**

_Hey guys, hope you all enjoy this chapter. Been mostly story building for what is to come. And it's funny that there had been a review by FFiction13 where he asked for Namor. I had mentioned before how Superman had gone to Miami to see Iron-Man, and since then Ive been working out a neat little confrontation between Superman and Namor, since they are two of the original Super-heroes ever made, I wanted to make it something with a more light-hearted nature to it. I'm still working on the writing part, but the concept work for it is all done. So you can expect Superman to tell the tale of his encounter with Namor the Submariner in the next chapter._

_Also, keep an eye out in the near future for a short story I'm working on called **"Spider-Man: Shadow of the Spider"**. The story will follow Spider-Man and Coulson as they make their way to Montreal, Canada to confront Peters clone; PKR-2 alias Benjamin Reilly. _

_Again, hope you all enjoyed. Sorry for the gap between chapters, been really busy with school and life. I'm hoping to have the Avengers Case-File finished before the next chapter of this story comes out, but I will just try to post things as I finish them. But I'm always working on concept for this story, and I'm always happy to read reviews when I get the chance. Thanks for reading :)_ }}


	3. King of Atlantis

**Chapter 3:**

**Day 2/ 4:28 PM**

"Well," Clark began as Sue and Reed both looked at him with curiosity; "It was a few hours ago when Fury had called Spider-Man in to talk with him. There was a call that came in from Tony Stark, and he wanted to talk to me. He wouldn't say what he needed over the phone, but he asked me to come out to his Miami estate and help him with something. So I got out there as soon as I could to see what he wanted."

**Day 2/ 12:20 PM**

"You want me to what?" Superman said with confusion and mild irritation in his voice as Tony Stark pulled his head out from his new Arc-reactor. The two were in Starks' private lab that was embedded in the base of a Miami hill-side.

"I just need you to hold up that end while I get in and make a few calibrations to the machine." Tony Stark still had a brace on his nose to help it heal, causing him to talk in a strange way. The look of confusion on Supermans face was replaced by one of sheer shock.

"You called me out here to lift up something heavy?" Superman said as he tilted his head, causing Tony Stark to give him a cross look that showed the mild irritation he was feeling.

" Tt. Don't think of it like that. This is delicate machinery; if anything ruptures when you're moving it it could blow up and take out half the beach with it." Tony Stark said casually as he put his head back into the machine.

"It could what?" Superman said with a worried tone as Tony's hand appeared holding a wrench and began to rotate at his wrist in a clockwise movement. "Don't you think you should call in someone from your team? This doesn't exactly seem safe."

Tony poked his head back out, the irritation on his face was now the only emotion he could display. "Of course it's safe. The only way it blows up is if it ruptures. So just don't drop it." Tony stuck his head back under the machine. "And if I call in S.H.I.E.L.D. they'll just have me fill out a lot of paperwork, and then they'll send Coulson to watch me as I work. This way it's just easier for everyone." Tony began to bang his wrench on something metal. "Now let's get this going; I promise it weighs less than that bus the Hulk threw at you."

Clark cast Tony an irritated look. "That's not funny." He said as he reached his hand underneath the machine and lifted up a foot off its base, allowing Tony to get underneath to make his adjustments. "There were people in that bus. Someone could have been really hurt."

Tony looked up briefly from his spot long enough to see the sad look on Supermans face. Tony went back to his work as his voice echoed up from within the machine. "Yeah...usually Hulk doesn't endanger civilians when he trying to save lives. You must have really pissed him off."

"Apparently he likes to smash things. And I don't smash easy." Superman said with an air of anger as Tony began to chuckle.

"Yeah that would do it." Tony said as he the sound of his wrench hitting metal several times filled the air. "I meant to ask you about Lex." Tony said as the loud sounds of his wrench ceased. "Is it true you two were friends once?" Superman looked at Tony with a look of shock.

"Lex told you that?"

"Lex told us a lot of things." Tony said as his head peeked up once again, his back resting against the large toolbox that housed many strange looking devices. "But as with all great deceptions, there's always a layer of truth to it. For a person like Lex it would help him sell the lie." Reaching behind him, Tony replaced his wrench with a tiny pen like device which emitted a small electric surge when Tony pressed a button on its side.

"You seem to understand how he thinks rather well." As Tony worked away, Superman couldn't help but remember the summer that he and Lex had built a customized telescope.

"It's not complicated. It's a business tactic; a low brow tactic that my father warned me about." Tony's brow appeared in Supermans view as Tony gave him a serious look. "I'm making the calibrations now. Hold it steady."

The sound of the electric current running through Tony's device was the only sound that filled the air as Superman continued to hold the machine in place. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and rumble, causing Superman to look around frantically as Tony Stark poked his head up with a terrified look on his face.

"What are you doing?" Tony shouted in anger. "Are you trying to blow up the beach?"

"It wasn't me." As Superman responded, there was another violent quake that caused Tony's tool box to rattle violently, several tools falling to the ground. Superman placed the machine down gently as Tony crawled out from under it, rubbing at his injured shoulder as he did. "I'll go check it out." Before Tony could respond, Superman had flown out the nearest open window and came to the source of the commotion.

Superman soared out of the front door of Starks estate and began to ascend into the sky so that he could get a good view of the area. No sooner than he began, he saw a large rock flying through the air and towards the estates support beams. Superman moved into action quickly, racing towards the rock and catching it in mid-air. He looked back in the direction that the rock had come from, dropping the rock he continued quickly in that direction.

He came over the cliff face that marked the end of Starks property, and as he looked over the beach front he could see a half naked man holding another boulder over his head. "You shall pay for your transgressions against my house, Stark!" The man shouted as he tossed the boulder with an intense strength towards the Stark estate. Superman rushed into action, quickly placing himself in the rocks path, causing it to burst into a thousand pieces as it shattered upon his chest.

"I don't know who you are." Superman said with held back frustration as he looked at the frustrated look on the strange mans face. "But you shouldn't be going around causing so much property damage."

"Silence fool!" Namor shouted as he approached Superman with a defiant look in his eyes. "I am Namor; the King of Atlantis! I shall not stand for a mere man and his defilement of my daughter! Now stand aside!" Namor pushed Superman out of his way with more force than Superman had expected; yet his attention was more drawn towards Namors words than his attitude.

"King of... Atlantis? Arthur?" Superman turned his head around and looked towards Namor with shock and bewilderment. "You can't be him." Namor stopped in his spot and turned glared towards Superman with ill intent.

"You would question my sovereignty over the greatest kingdom on this planet? Who are you who dares stand before King Namor?" Namor came to stand right before Superman, eying him down as he began to laugh to himself. "Oh let me guess; Stark must have known I was coming and called in a bodyguard to do his fighting for him." Namor sneered past Superman and towards Starks mansion. "Does he think such flamboyantly colourful characters will stop me?"

There was a ping of irritation that went through Superman as the half naked man in green scaly underwear that stood before him; accused him of being flamboyant. He decided not to linger on it and glared back at Namor with an aggravated look on his face. "I'm not going to let you damage this property." Superman said sternly as the thought about all of the fragile technology that Stark could have had stockpiled in that lab.

"Then you will fall like the rest!" Namor shouted, and without warning his fist launched forward and landed a punch to Supermans nose. Superman was caught off guard and stumbled back slightly before he readied himself for another attack. Yet Namor stood still, holding at the hand he had used to hit Superman. He cracked his knuckles as he made another fist; his face showing signs of discomfort.

"You are no mere man; are you?" Namor said callously as he let his hand rest by his side. "Are you one of the Asgardians? Or some other filth that the Universe decided to dump on Earths doorstep?" Supermans fists clenched as Namors words cut through him.

"That's not important." Superman said defiantly as he approached Namor. "You're going to stop what you're doing, and you're going to leave. Now. Before I hit your fist with my face again. You'll only get a few more hits before those bones completely break." Namor had several hairline fractures and a dislocated finger, and Superman could see it all with his X-Ray vision.

An angry look came over Namor as he felt nothing but contempt for this strange new opponent. Namor jumped back and landed by a large boulder that he hoisted over his head. "You know I'll just break that one too." Superman said as Namor began to grin wickedly. There was a loud shout as Namor heaved the boulder with all of his might towards Superman. A light sigh escaped the Man of Steel as he reared back his right arm, then, bringing his arm about he smashed the boulder against his forearm.

As the pieces of debris rained down, there was something that blurred out of the corner of Supermans eyes. He turned his head to see that Namor had thrown a second, smaller boulder towards the estate. His heard skipped as he began to take off towards the stampedeing boulder, yet his cape was snagged as Namor took hold and used Supermans momentum to toss him into the ground.

"What the hell is taking you?" Tony Stark asked as he appeared at the door of his estate to see the small boulder soaring towards him. "Aw crap." Tony whimpered as the boulder crashed into the window behind him, causing small shards of glass to imbede themselves into Tony's back. There was a cry of pain as Tony fell to the ground, craddling his head as he landed.

"Lex!" Supreman cried out as he looked up to Namor, who stood above him with a smug grin of satisfaction. Superman used an open palm attack and struck Namor in the center of his chest, causing the King of Atlantis to go soaring through the air fast and with more force than Namor had ever felt, and before he knew it, the King of Atlantis was crashing into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Superman rushed to Tony Starks side as he cleared off the glass shards and used his X-Ray vision to examine Stark and was relieved to see that there had been no serious damage done. "Tony, thank goodness your okay."

As Tony rolled over onto his back, he began to breath out of his nose and make a familiar whistling sound every time he did. "Oh no!" Tony said as he reached up to his nose. "I just had the damn thing set." Another furious whistle came out of Starks nose as he took another breath. Tony looked up to Superman to see an aggitated look on his face. "What? My nose is composing a symphony and your upset with me?"

"He said you had defiled his daughter. Tell me you're not a pervert like the tabloids suggest." Superman said with a serious look on his face as Tony looked at him in disbelief.

"Namora; Princess of Atlantis, is a 45 year old Water-Goddess who doesn't age." Superman began to take a more relaxed stance and an apologetic look. "It's not my fault her dad's a nut-job. She's actually quite charming." Tony said as he reached up and poked at his nose. "Ow!"

"Come on." Superman said as he reached down and grabbed Stark under the arm, helping him to his feet. "I'll take you to the hospital."

"No. No nurses!" Tony said as another whistle filled the air. "Just take me inside, let me call Ed." Superman helped walk Stark to the door and into the house. "Ed learned everything he knows from his dad; so Edwin Jarvis Jr. can patch up just about any flesh wound.."

**Day 2/ 4:40 PM**

"I can believe that." Susan said as she nodded in agreement, causing Reed to look over to her in acknowledgement.

"Yeah, Namor has some issues when it comes to the women in his life. He once told me that if I allowed Susan to suffer any pain, emotional or physical, he would break my bones." Reed said as he cast Clark a grin. "I told him he was welcome to try." Reed said as he bent his left arm into a pretzel.

"Do you remember when Johnny kept trying to get Namora to date him?" Susan asked Reed as they both began to laugh.

"Those were an eventful few months. Good thing we updated the perimeter security before that all began." Reed said as the two began to recant the many things that had happened in those months; yet Supermans thoughts seemed to drift elsewhere.

He hadn't thought about it until now; maybe he had been trying to deny it. Maybe he was only thinking about it now because he had told the story to the Richards family. Yet when Superman had thought that Tony Stark was in mortal danger; he called him Lex. He shouted out the name and he didn't understand why. Tony did remind him of Lex; but not the Lex of today. The Lex that Clark had grown up with; the friend he had once been. And now, looking back at it all; after the time spent with Tony Stark... Clark missed his best friend.

"Clark?" Susan said as she noticed Clarks dazed look. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, sorry. My mind was..." Clark began with an apologetic look on his face. "...in another world."

**Day 2/ 5:15 PM**

Lex Luthor sat in the corner of his cell with his legs crossed, his eyes closed, and his mind focused. He knew that all he needed to do now was be patient.

In the time he had been locked up, he had nothing but time to focus. He knew now that he had let his ego get the better of him, and had underestimated the heroes of this world. But he had been so close; Superman was defeated at his feet, he was ready to kill that alien freak once and for all if not for Stark.

Lexes fists clenched as he thought about Tony Stark and how much the oaf resembled him. It was disgusting, like looking in a broken, drunken mirror. A pitiful rendition of himself without the willpower or strength to do what was necessary. Lex knew that before all of this was done, before he returned to him own home; he would make sure Stark learned the true meaning of what it means to be a Luthor.

**Day 2/ 7:20 PM**

Superman lay on the bed in the room that had been arranged for him by the Richards. They had all just finished dinner and the family was now busy doing their own projects. Reed was in his lab while Susan and Franklin were having play time while Ben and DragonMan relaxed by the hot tub. Clark was letting his thoughts wander as he wondered about what Bruce and the other might be doing.

There were many thoughts, most of them of the different villains who might take advantage of Supermans absence, and Clark wanted desperately to escape that train of thought. So Superman got up from the bed and walked over to a small box that had a large stack of reading material in it. Superman began to dig through the different magazines and books; there was a variety of different things yet Clark couldn't help but start to set aside the different comics that he came across, along as a copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird"; Clark was intrigued by the idea of reading a copy of the book from another universe to see if it differed at all. As Clark got to the bottom of the box, he was bewildered to see a familiar face staring back up at him from the cover of a peculiar comic.

The title was printed by Dynamono Comics and was titled "The Power of Shazam!". On the cover page was a man who looked exactly like the Shazam that Superman knew. Clark quickly opened the comic to find that the first panel gave a brief description of Bobby Bitson who was given magic power by the wizard Shazam. Clark was shocked at how close this comic was to the reality he knew. Yet it seemed that in this comic book, Shazam was the only hero and he protected the Earth with the help from his friends, who he could imbue with his own powers. Clark began to dig through the comic, examining every single panel and drawing, every last word to the smallest of details. He spent well over an hour peering into this eerie comic from another world.

There was a loud knocking at the door that brought Clarks attention from the comic, and Ben Grimm appeared in the doorway. "Franky wants t'know f'yer still gunna watch de show." Clark smiled and stood up, holding the comic in his hand as he did.

"I'd be happy to." Bens eyes moved towards the comic that Clark held as he spoke.

"So yer one o dem grown men dat reads comic books?" Ben asked with a cross look as Clark looked down to the comic, and then back to Ben.

"Nothing wrong with a good story." Clark wondered if he should mention the ties this comic book had, and just what it might imply; if not for the aggravated look that appeared on Bens face.

"You call dat a good read?" Ben said as he began to walk down the corridor, motioning Clark to follow him. "You read Alann Smoores Moiderin' Pun; then you tell me whats good." Ben was speaking with what Clark was interpreting as contempt.

"So," Clark began as he followed Ben down the hall; "Are you a big fan of... Catman, was it?"

"Yah. I'm a reg'lar fanboy. Can't yeh tell?" Ben said with a mocking tone as they approached the room. "Suzy and Franky's waitin' on yeh." With that, Ben turned and began to make his way back up the hallway. Clark wondered why he was acting that way, but quickly cast the thought from his mind as he entered to see Susan and Franklin Richards both sitting on the couch waiting for Clark.

"Mr. Superman! Are you ready to watch Catman with me?" Franklin called out with excitement as Clark joined them on the couch.

"I can't wait to watch." With that the three began to watch the show and Clark was shown a glimpse into another strange yet familiar scenario. Where billionaire Baxter Dwayne and his young ward Pactrick Silverman battled crime in Wantham City. At fisrt Clark was shocked, yet instead of worrying about what sort of implications this might have, like he did with the comic book, Clark simply leaned back on the couch, enjoying himself while he began imagining this Adam West was really portraying the person that this character reminded him of.

Clark and Franklin both laughed hysterically throughout the show; Franklin enjoyed the silly jokes and the bad effects,while Clark never stopped thinking how much the Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne he knew needed to watch this.

**END CHAPTER**

((Here it is finally, the long awaited chapter 3! My apologies to everyone for how long it can be between chapters sometimes, but as I've said before this story is never far from my mind and I'm always working on it when I have the right inspiration and the free time. I'm glad to see that people are still following and favoriting the story after it having been up for so long. ))

((Hope everyone enjoyed the new chapter, and I'll do my best to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I'm also going to start showcasing some pictures that I have done for the story on my FACEBOOK so you can add me on facebook if you'd like! And I've also got a youtube Chanel where I review DC/Marvel/Star Wars figures and make customs as well. So check those out and don't forget to subscribe if you do :). My user name on Facebook and Youtube is Alius Neo. Thanks again for reading everyone, hope you have all enjoyed the story so far and leave a review if you have any thoughts))

((Here is a link to my youtube Chanel. Facebook page will have the same profile picture as youtube.

www .you tube channel/UC0nn2mleJMm9m_fvThPV28g

Thanks again to everyone for their support!))


	4. Subterranea

Chapter 4: The Glory of Subterranea.

DAY 2/ 11:30 PM

Franklin, Susan and Clark all laughed hysterically as Catman reared back his fist before winding it up in a comical fashion and letting it fly into the face of the Pelican. Clark could barely believe how much he was actually enjoying the terribly cheesy one liners and the poorly choreographed fight scenes; and yet the more Franklin laughed at them the more Clark started to feel a strange nostalgic sensation come over him.

Clark looked over to Franklin and saw him throw his head into his mothers lap while he laughed at the way The Pelican cried out "Waaaah, waaah waaah!" Suddenly, Lois popped into Clarks mind as he wondered how much she must have been missing him; probably as much as he missed his whole existence in the universe he was born in. And seeing Franklin so happy, with a loving family all around him, made Clark realize something.

His whole life, and even more so since he became Superman; he was afraid to have this. The happy mother, the laughing child. Clark had tried to keep himself from wanting this kind of life; but he couldn't help himself. He had tried to not fall in love with Lois; tried and failed. And now that he was sitting there, listening to this happy family; having powers, but not having them get in the way of being a family... Clark had to admit that it was something he had always wanted for himself.

"Great Scott! Release my young companion you dastardly fiend!" Catman called out as Franklin Richards gasped in excitement. His head raising instantly off his mothers lap as he glared towards the television screen with worry.

"Oh no! Save him Catman! Don't let the Pelican win!" Franklin shouted with mild worry and anger mixed into his voice as Clark and Susan exchanged smiles while they enjoyed Franklins encouraging words.

"Okay Mister loud face; its almost your bedtime now." Susan said as she leaned closer to the television and turned the volume down so that her voice would carry better. "You've almost watched two hours of Catman now; and the only reason you got so much was because we have a guest who has never seen it." As Susan spoke, Clark watched as the look of joy on Franklins face turned to one of utter disappointment.

"But Mom!" Franklin shouted as his gaze quickly turned from one of disappointment to one of fierce determination; "I can't just leave when Mr. Superman hasn't seen the way Catman saves his sidekick Cardinal-Kid; it's important!" There was a look of anguish in Franklin's eyes that surprised Clark and Susan as they both looked towards him.

"Okay little man; but once you finish the episode you go straight to bed!" Susan said as she began to lay down the law for the young boy, she then looked over to Clark with an even sterner expression. "Let me know once the show is over."

Clark smiled brightly as he nodded his head. "Yes Ma'am!" Clark said as he looked down to Franky with a serious look on his face. "Don't you go getting me into trouble now." Clark said as Franky looked over to him with a great big smile on his face.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that." Franky said as he began to wink at Clark as he did. Clark couldn't help but laugh slightly at Franklins playful attitude. "Now watch closely! Catman has to time his catch perfectly!" Clark and Franklin then watched as Cardinal-Kid launched a Cat-rope up into the air as he fell, Catman catching hold of the line as he instantly began pull Cardinal-Kid to safety. "You see!" Franklin said in excitement as he looked over to Clark with a told-you-so expression on his face. "You should know how to do stuff like that."

DAY 3/ 6:00 AM

Clark and Franklin had both fallen asleep while watching the adventures of Catman; and Clark had used his Superman cape as a blanket for them both. The opening theme song replayed over and over as the main menu for the video cycled through its predetermined track.

Susan entered the room, expecting to find them both awake and watching the very last episodes on the video; which was exactly what would happen every time Johnny watched the show with Franklin. Yet instead, she found that Clark Kent was sleeping, and hovering almost four feet above the couch, and curled up on Clarks chest, his arms dangling off of either side of Clark; was Franklin.

Susan smiled brightly as she watched her son roll himself into a ball on Clarks chest before he curled himself up in a blanket. Susan turned around and began to close the door; glad to see that Ben and Reed were both being proven so very wrong the more that Superman stayed with them.

The door clicked shut, waking Clark as he looked down to his chest and saw the young Richards sleeping blissfully. Clark smiled wide, brushing a hand over Franklins blonde hair and yawning lightly before he closed his eyes again. As Clark began to drift back to sleep, his body began to instinctively hover back down to the couch below him. Clark was asleep again before his head hit the pillow.

Yet if Clark had decided in that moment that it was time to rise; he would have been shocked to see that while he slowly drifted back to the couch; young Franklin stayed hovering in the air; the red blanket wrapped around him as the edges of the blanket flopped over Franklin's side.

Over the next few minutes; Franklin began to descend as well, slowly shifting through the air before coming back to his resting place on Clark's chest.

DAY 3/ 8AM

Clark was sleeping heavily as he lay on the corner of the couch; his back pressed up against the very corner of the bed while his left arm dangled over the edge; Franklin still curled up on his chest. There were strange noises in the background that disturbed Clarks dreams, and before long, the strange noises were nudging him awake.

Clark began to move about, wondering what the strange commotion was as the noises began to grow louder and clearer. Clark reached up to rub at his eyes, and when he did he accidentally woke Franklin. "What time is it?" Franklin asked in a groggy voice before the door to the room burst open and the Thing came flying through; breaking the door off its hinges as it splintered into a thousand pieces.

Clark shot himself to his feet, causing Franklin to fall to the ground with a loud thump. Clark looked down at Ben and Franklin as they both lay on the ground before him. "What's going on?" Clark asked as he looked to Ben with confusion.

"Uhg." Ben said in a dazed voice as he tried to center his vision. "Wuz a s'prise attack. Damn Rock-Golems!" Ben said as he rose to his feet. "They got the jump on us, almost sounded like one of em called Mole Man der King."

Clark looked at Ben with bewilderment; and before he could stop himself he asked "What's a Mole-Man?" Franklin looked over to Superman with a sad look on his face.

"Where's mommy and daddy?" Franklin said as he looked up at Clark with great worry. Clark turned his head and began to listen for the faintest sound of Reed or Susan Richards.

"You two, stay here!" Clark said calmly as he quickly sped through the Baxter Building. As he made his way from room to room, Clark could see the piles and piles of rubble that were scattered about every room.

As Clark searched the rooms, he was soon attacked by a single giant rock man that almost resembled Ben Grimm, except for being red and block-like. Clark looked at the creature with a cross look, and the creature responded in kind. Casting a furious roar into the air as it charged towards Clark with ill intent in its eyes. It only took one well placed left hook to send the creature going flying through the window and towards the bay. Strangely though there were no other creatures that came to its defense. Clark decided that he had to continue searching and find his hosts.

It wasn't until Clark found his way to the master bedroom that he found the only clue as to what had happened while he slept. There was a letter, written on a piece of scrap paper.

"_Dear the remains of the Fantastic Four:_

_If you have found this, then know that your leader, and her pitiful man-champion; have been bested by the superior intellect of the mighty Mole-Man! I have taken my dear Susan and will make her my Queen. And with your Johnny Storm not there to assist in an attempt at rescue, my plans will surely go unspoiled this time._  
_Good day Mr. Thing. If you try to follow; you will find that the army of Rock Golems you were so quick to spurn have become some of my greatest allies! You shall never see the Richards again!_

_Sincerely, MM_".

Clark read through the message as he gave the words a perplexed look. Who, or what was a Mole-Man; and how dis he manage to kidnap two of the Fantastic Four? Clark quickly scooped up the letter and sped his way back to the room he had left Franklin and Ben in.

"What'd you find?" Ben asked as Clark suddenly appeared back in the room. Clark reached out and handed Ben the note as he quickly read it. "Oh no. Not again." Ben said with mild worry and agitation in his voice.

"Again? You mean this has happened before?" Clark asked as he looked towards Franklin with a confused look on his face; the boy returned his look of confusion.

"Wheres Mommy and Daddy?" Franklin asked as the tone in his voice began to change from confusion to one of worry and sadness.

"Don't you worry none Franky." Ben said as he crumpled up the note and tossed it away. "Your old Uncle Ben will save the day!" Ben said as he turned to Superman; the look on his face turning to one of absolute resolve. "I need help on this. And I don't know how much longer Johnny, Pete and Coulson will be, so looks like you're all I gots." Ben said as the look of resolve turned to the same look of mistrust and agitation that he had given Clark the night before.

Although the animosity Clark felt coming his way almost felt unwarranted, Clark knew that at the moment there were more pressing matters to deal with. So Clark nodded his head and then turned to Franklin. "Your Uncle Ben is right Franklin; we will bring your parents back home. Come on, I'll take you to Dragon-Man so you can wait until we all get back."

Ben gave Clark an appreciative look as he nodded his head towards him. With delicate care, Clark scooped the young, upset child into his arms as the boy started to cry into his shoulder. "I want my mommy." Franklin sobbed as Clark looked down at him with a look of deep sorrow.

In a blur, Clark had taken Franklin to the private living quarters of DragonMan. Franklin wouldn't stop crying as Clark handed the crying child to the hulking beast; whose own face now showed equal concern for the small child. "Franklin." Clark began as he knelt down in front of him. "I will bring your parents back to you." As Clark spoke Franklins face became wet from tears. Clark reached up to Franklins face and wiped some tears away. "I promise." He spoke with determination, yet with a lightness to his voice that seemed to calm Franklin.

Clark smiled at the sight of Franklin calming down, and looked over to DragonMan with a look intense determination; he would not allow another child to loose his parents while he had something to say about it.

In a moment Clark had blurred out of the room and appeared back before Ben. "Let's go save that boys parents." Clark said as Ben clasped his fists together.

"It's clobberin' time." Ben said with gusto as he began to follow the debris field through the house; trailing it to the Rock Golem's point of entry. Clark followed close behind, he knew that he could speed ahead to uncover this plot on his own; but he wanted to take this opportunity to find the source of Ben Grimm's anger that had been displayed towards him the other day.

The two followed the trail of destruction through the building; Clark was shocked that he hadn't heard any of the commotion, and wondered how he hadn't woken up during the conflict that must have occurred. The trail led the two down the building to the very base of the building, located in the fifth level of the basement..

Ben and Clark examined the giant hole in the ground, pieces of odd shaped red rocks were scattered across the room. "What is this stuff?" Clark asked in a confused tone as he examined the red rocks.

"Pieces of a rock golem." Ben said as he picked up one of the pieces and crumbled it in his hand. "Looks like someone already clobbered this chump." Ben said as he tossed the remnants away. "Its still fresh too. They cant be too far ahead. C'mon!"

The two jumped into the hole, head first, as Ben's determination and raw spirit began to embolden Superman. The hole led into a tunnel system that went on a sharp incline and led deeper into the earth, until the tunnel came to a plummeting drop. Ben looked over to Superman with a grin of anticipation before he jumped down the pit and began to free-fall deep into the core of the Earth. It didn't take long for Superman to start flying after him as the two began to sink into the heart of the world. Before Superman had caught up to Ben he could hear him laughing to himself lightly as they descended; clearly Ben enjoyed the adventure aspect of this, but Clark was still worried about this 'Mole-Man' and what he might do to the Richards family! Superman didn't want to have another child go through the pain of growing up without his parents; not while he could do something about it.

Ben crashed into the hard ground, causing it to tremble and quake beneath him; Superman began to rear up on his position and as he did he could see Ben looking back up at him with his grin still etched into his stone covered face. As Superman slowed his descent and came to a rest beside Ben Grimm, he asked him a question that was beginning to puzzle him. "So you say we are going up against Rock-Golems?"

"Dats right." Ben said slightly annoyed as he looked back at Superman, half knowing what was coming next.

"So they're just big pieces of living rock?" As Superman spoke the look on Bens face turned to one of mild irritation and anger.

"I see wut yer gittin at fellah. I ain't no Golem; now drop it before I show you d'difference between rocks and me." A solid rock fist began to clench as Ben turned to Superman and shook his fist at him. "I get enuf a dat crap from the media; and Johnny. Don't need it during my down time." Ben said with a chuckle as Superman did his best to not bring up the subject again.

"If this is what you consider down-time; I can't imagine what you do for fun." Superman said as he looked over to Ben with a smile, trying to ease the tension that was quickly brewing between the two; yet Ben did not seem to have any interest in making amends. The two continued on down the tunnel with an awkward tension slowly mounting. Suddenly, Superman couldn't take any more of it. "Okay, that's far enough. Stop!" Superman said in a determined voice as Ben turned on his spot and looked at Superman with the annoyed look still on his face. "What is your problem with me? You have been aggressive towards me since I arrived here."

"You really tink dis is da best time to be askin' dat ques-chin?" Ben said as he turned and gave Superman a disbelieving look. "You r'member dat Reed and Susie is in trouble?

"You can walk and talk can't you? I want to help, and I don't think we'll be able to do this unless we work together." A grunt of anger came out of Ben as he continued to walk down the tunnel.

"You tink we need ta work t'gedder? Lemme tell ya some-tin bucko; you was able ta take down d'Avengers by your lil' lonesome. Pretty sure you could'a had this fixed by now and had Reed and Sussie home to Franky. But you haven't; instead you an me is having a lovely talk about 'us' while walking down a dark and depressin' tunnel." Ben suddenly stopped and turned to face Superman, pointing a large stone finger towards him"What's my problem wit you? You don't do enough; you could have stopped d'Avengers before the fight b'came what it was, but instead you let things play out; the way your letting things play out now. And I don't like it." Ben lowered his finger and turned around; feeling that his point had been won.

There was a long silence as Superman and Ben continued to walk the dark tunnel. Clark knew that Ben had a point, and he was trying to find the best way to put what he was thinking into words. "I didn't come at the Avengers. I didn't throw the first punch; and I certainly didn't come to this universe looking for trouble. They attacked me, and I did my best to keep them from hurting me; or anyone else." Superman glared at Ben, he couldn't believe how much resentment Ben had built up towards him. "Now when it comes to our current situation; could I have just barreled through all of the rock and just tore my way into the place where Sue and Reed are and just taken them back? Sure; but I can't find them with my Super-vision; which means that there must be lead pockets throughout these tunnels. Now I could just go making holes all throughout the inner crust of the Earth, but that may have serious negative consequences for anyone hoping to live on Earth within the foreseeable future."

Ben turned back to Superman with an irritated look on his face. "Jus' keep yer yap shut fer now. Da whole underground can hear da racket yer makin'." As Ben turned away, Superman felt that he had made his point; though he only wished that he had never been put into the position that he had to fight the Avengers. "Sides;" Ben quickly added; "I nev'r axed fer yer help. You shudda jus' stayed back and babysat Franky."

"Quiet!" Superman called out as he reached over and placed his hand over Bens mouth.

"Da hell is wrong wit you?" Ben said in anger as Superman pulled him to the ground by his shoulder. Without saying a word, Superman put a finger to his lips to signal Ben to remain silent; before pointing down a small corridor indicating that he had seen something. Before long Ben could see that the Rock Golems were just ahead, and they seemed to be arguing among themselves. The angry look on Bens face turned to one of intrigue and anticipation. "It's clobberin' time!" Ben whispered as he readied himself to strike; yet before he could he felt Superman tugging on his shoulder again. "You friggin' kiddin' me?" The anger in his voice was barely muffled as Ben tried to pull his arm free from Supermans grip. "What're you tryin' ta pull?" Ben said as his voice became gritty and gravely.

"We should watch them. Find out where they took Susan and Reed. Then you can clobber them to your hearts content." Superman said with a grin as Ben crossed his arms.

"T-t; no reason we can't clobber 'em and then find out where Susie and Reed is." Ben said with disappointment as Superman gave him a disbelieving look. "What?" Ben asked confused as Superman looked at him with mild annoyance.

"Really? They seem to have come into the Baxter Building with nothing but hostility on their minds; how do we know that we attack and they don't decide to use Reed and Sue as human shields?" Ben seemed to contemplate Supermans reasoning before he grunted in an annoyed defeat.

"M'kay then Mr. Perfect. How do you t'ink we should go bout it?" Ben stated as he looked to Superman for a new plan. The Man of Steel looked around, after a moment he could find nothing that would give him inspiration; until that is he looked back to Ben Grimm.

"You know." Superman began, "We could try to dress you up in some of these rocks around here and make you look like," before Superman could finish, Ben interjected with a held-back anger.

"Don't even say it. I a'int a Rock Golem, and no way'z in hell am I dressin' up like one." Ben argued as his pride forced him to maintain that he was indeed, not a Rock Golem.

"It's a great plan." Superman began as he attempted to persuade the angry rock man. "You pretend to be one of them. Act like I'm your prisoner; and when they come to investigate we have the element of surprise on our side."

"I got an element for ya. Right here!" The rock-like fist of Ben Grimm began to ball up as he gave Superman a death glare.

"We don't have the time for this." Clark began as he knelt over and picked up a handful of rocks off the ground. "Now put your arms; I'm gonna have to make these rocks powdery enough that they give your skin a temporary dye." Superman clapped a couple of stones together, and afterwards his hands were covered in the red-like powdery debris. Superman went to apply the powder to Ben; who scowled at him the whole time. "Come on Ben... for Franky."

Ben looked up to Superman and the scowl turned to a look that Clark had seen many times before on many peoples faces; it was the look of determination; the look that said he would do anything to get that boy his parents back. "Powder me up fly-boy."

Several dozen Rock-Golems were busy working away as they gathered different jewels and metals from deep within the Earth. It was more than a simple hobby, or a way to pass the time for the Golems; mining for precious stone and gems was the single greatest desire the Rock-Golems had.

Some people theorized that it was because the Rock-Golems were nothing but mere rock; and the gems and metal proved that they had the potential to become so much more. Yet for others, they held onto the belief that the Rock-Golems simply enjoyed shiny things.

One of the Golems found a large diamond and began to chant in a raspy, excited voice. Some of the other Golems began to move in closer as other began to dig tirelessly in hopes of finding their own precious gem. One of the Golems who had moved in on the one with diamond began to reach out for the gem, but the Golem who had found it swung its large fist around and knocked back the other Golem. At this point the others began to attack the Golem who had reached for the gem that didn't belong to him. If one thing would not be tolerated in the Rock-Golem society, it was the stealing of precious stones.

As the fighting began to lessen; Ben Grimm began to approach, his skin now covered in a fine powder of red rock colouring. Ben cleared his voice and tossed Superman to the ground in front of him. Superman had his hands and his feet bound for dramatic effect. ""Greetinz!" Ben declared. "I got a nudder prisoner fer de great king Mole M'n."

"Mole-Man is not our king!" One of the Rock-Golems said as he jumped forward, the anger in his voice the only indication that his mood had altered. "He is the holder of the great diamond the Gol. He has the greatest gem in Subterranea; that makes him the one with greatest honor. We follow the shine; not the man."

The Rock-Golems began to refocus themselves on their work. Ben and Superman exchanged confused looks as the workers seemed to have forgotten all about them.

"Uh, yah. So where do I put this prisoner then? I wanna start lookin for mah own shinnies." Ben said with a tone of unsteadiness. He thought that these Rock-Golems would be easy to fool; but this was too easy for his liking.

"Prisoners go in Mole-Hole. Down that way." The Rock-Golem said as he pointed down a nearby corridor. "Why you not know this?" One of the Golems questioned as it approached Ben Grimm and began to analyse the texture on his face. Ben began to get slightly nervous before his brain came in for a last minute save.

"I forgot. I always forget things when I see shinnies." Ben said as the other Rock Golems all began to nod their heads in agreement.

With that, Ben picked Superman up and began to lead him down the corridor that had been pointed out to them earlier. "That was easy." Superman said as he broke the bonds that held him. "Now all we have to do is find the Richards and take care of this Mole-Man person.

The two continued to descend the tunnel, as they did Clark thought it best to familiarize himself with the enemy he may have to face in the near future. "So; tell me about this Mole-Man; what exactly does he look like?" No sooner than Clark had finished speaking, the two could hear the sound of a distant shout that was growing closer and closer. The two watched as a small man wearing a strange green outfit with a cape and large sun-glasses came tumbling to their feet.

"He looks like that." Ben said as he pointed down towards Mole-Man; who seemed to be slightly bruised and beaten already. "C'm'ere you." Ben said as he grabbed hold of Mole-Mans cape and held him up off the ground.

"Un-hand me you brute!" Mole-Man said frantically as he began to fight against Bens grip. "No one can defeat the invincible Mole-Man!" With that, Ben used him palm to smack Mole-Man on the top of his head; rendering him dazed.

As Ben held the Mole-Man, Susan and Reed Richards began to emerge from the tunnel, coming from the direction that Mole-Man had come from. Susan and Reed were both smiling as they approached. "Ben!" Susan began; "Why do you look just like a Rock-Golem?" Ben looked back at Clark with a look of pure contempt.

"Don't matter. How'd you take care o' Mole-M'n so fast?" Ben asked as he looked to Reed; who shook his head and indicated that Sue was the one to defeat Mole-Man.

"What do you mean how?" Susan asked, half insulted. "It's the friggin' Mole-Man. I had him dealt with five minutes after I woke up; I've been trying to get him to tell us the way out. But now that we found you; I guess we don't need him to be our tour-guide anymore." Susan said as her and Reed stepped over Mole-Man and began to leave the area with Superman and Ben.

"You think I will be defeated by you so easily my love?" Mole-Man said as he began to come to and raised a diamond out of his pocket. "Rock-Golems! Do the bidding of the shiney! Destroy these interlopers!"

At first there was nothing that darkness that surrounded them. "Prepare yourselves." Superman warned the others moments before Rock-Golems started to appear in the shadows. At first there were only a few of them; but before the group knew it there were seemingly hundreds of them all swarmed around them. The group stood there, unsure of what would come next; but all of them knowing that they weren't going to surrender to these hunks of living rock.

"This is too bad." Reed said with disappointment in his voice. "Of all the people that the Rock-Golems could have imprinted on as their King; they chose Mole-Man."

This was when Superman remembered what it was the Rock-Golems had told him and Ben before, the Golems didn't view Mole-Man as their King, he simply had the biggest, shiniest diamond. A wide grin came over Clarks face as he quickly looked around; he found a nice hunk of coal that was easily the size of his head. "What are you doing?" Reed Richards asked, but before another word could be said Superman had used his tremendous strength to crush and condense the large chunk of stone into a diamond that was now as big as Clarks fist. Clark held the diamond above his head as the Rock-Golems all looked at him in awe and amazement.

"Now; go get it!" Superman pulled his arm back and gave the diamond a good throw down the corridor, past the Mole-Man. This caused the Rock-Golems to chase after the diamond, causing Mole-Man to be carried away by the horde of Golems that now charged down the tunnel. Superman turned back to the others as Sue looked at him with a light frown on her face. "What's wrong?" Superman asked as Sue looked up to him and grinned.

"You know, diamonds are a girls best friend." Reed and Ben both looked over to her and sighed. "What?" Sue asked with a giggle. "I'm just saying. Now, let me get back to my baby-boy."

Day 3/ 10:45 AM

"Mommy!" Franklin shouted with glee as he ran into his mothers arms; her smile brightening up the room and she hoisted her little man into the air and swing him around before embracing him in a big hug. "I missed you Mommy! Why did you leave like that?" Franklin said, the worry still etching its way through his voice.

"I'm sorry Franklin; I promise I wont let it happen again." Susan said as she gave Franklin a great big kiss on his cheek.

"I could hear that big slobbery one from over here." The voice of Johnny Storm cut in from across the room as the returned heroes turned to greet him. "So; anyone mind explaining to me why I came home to a small child who was left alone with a dragon-shaped man-bot?" The Richards's took several minutes to explain what had transpired during the morning; and afterwards Johnny could barely contain his laughter.

"Haha, I knew it. Ben, have I not always told you that you're the next stage of evolution for those Rock-Golems? You should be their king!" Johnny began to laugh hysterically as a mischievous smile appeared on Bens face.

"Don't you know nothin' hot-head? Golems don't gots kings; they worship who ever has the biggest shiniest stone... Idiot." In retort; Johnny Storm threw a small ball of fire into Bens face; causing Ben to begin chasing after him.

Clark watched on and smiled as Ben and Johnny continued to squabble, and though he may not have been able to see it; Franklin Richards was looking up at Superman with a smile on his face; thinking to himself how cool it was that Superman had saved his parents.

Day 3/ 11:00 AM

Coulson and Peter Parker stood outside of a small apartment building in Montreal, Quebec. It had been a while since Peter had been to Canada; yet even when the weather wasn't covering him in a mountain of snow, he somehow felt that there was still a cold presence lingering over him. "So... he's here?" Peter asked, his voice not doing well to hide the fear that was building up inside his gut.

"We don't have to do this Pete. We can just leave now. He'll never know we were here." Coulson tried to place a hand onto Parker's shoulder; but Peter just looked over at Coulson with a weak smile.

"He knows we're here." Peter said in a low tone. "If his Spidey-Sense is anything like mine, he knows someone is here for him." The two walked up to the intercom system as Coulson began to scroll through the different names in the data-base.

"Here he is." Coulson said as his finger pointed to a single name on the prompter; 'Richard Fitzpatrick'. Peter began to tear up at the sight of his fathers name and mothers maiden name in bold capital letter on the intercom. "Are you ready?" Peter looked over to Coulson; the anticipation clear in his face.

"He's my brother Phil. It doesn't matter if I'm ready; I'm bringing him home."

**To Be Continuted in...** "Spider-Man: Shadow of the Spider"

((**AUTHORS NOTE:** _Thanks for waiting everyone. I wont lie though I did kind of start rushing through it near the end, which you may be able to notice. Sorry about that, but I really just want to push this story forward as I am very excited for what comes next. On that note, you can expect to see the Peter confront Ben Reilly, who is now going by the alias of Richard Fitzpatrick. You can expect for some character revelations that I always wanted to see in the main marvel continuity. You can expect several direct references to the Clone Wars saga; and a modified version of the fate of Ben Reilly that a lot of fans speculated towards._

_On the Superman front however, you can expect the next chapter of Superman and the Family Fantastic to be up with the final chapter of Shadow of the Spider; and I don't expect that to be more than two chapters. The next chapter will focus on Superman and Johnny Storm; who both discover that they share a similar interest; something that just happens to net them in a very negative place. Thanks for reading :)! ))_


	5. Negative Connotations

((Hey Everyone! Thanks to everyone for continuing to read and support the story. I know this isn't much but I have also been working on a new **Justice League Abridged** series on _Youtube_. Feel free to check it out by searching **Justice LAbridged** in a _youtube_ search engine. Thanks again for reading. And don't forget to favorite and leave a comment/review.))

**Chapter 5: **

**Negative Connotations**

_**Day 3/ 11:15 AM**_

Clark, Johnny and Franklin were all sitting in one of the television rooms high up in the Baxter Building. The excitement from earlier had begun to settle with everyone as they all settled into their normal routines.

Dragon-Man and Ben Grimm were cleaning up some of the destruction that had occurred from Mole-Mans attack, while Susan was getting some lunch ready for every one. Reed had gone back to work in his lab, and had spend a solid twenty minutes running cables from his lab to another room.

Clark had offered Ben a hand with the clean-up, but Ben insisted he wouldn't let their guest do house-work. Clark had been surprised at first, but was glad that Ben was warming up to him; even if it was only a little. Or he might just not have wanted to spend anymore time with him after their underground 'adventure'.

Franklin laughed out loud as Johnny would make parts of his hair catch fire before putting it out in a slap-stick fashion. Clark had tried to warn Johnny about playing with fire, but the two youngsters were able to convince Clark it was okay and he began to laugh along, but he was also ready to jump into action with his Arctic breath if need be.

A sigh of disappointment was heard as Reed entered the room as Johnny set his hair ablaze once more. "Johnny; what have we told you about setting yourself on fire for amusement?" Everyone turned their heads towards Reed as Johnny opened his mouth to retort. "You know we don't like the message it sends to Franklin."

Johnny looked to Reed half insulted that he hadn't let him retort. "It was just a bit of fun Reed; no need to have your panties in such a jumble." A confused look came over Franklins face as he looked from Johnny to his father.

"What are panties?" Franklin asked in the most innocent voice, causing Johnny to burst out in laughter. The look of confusion on Franklins face intensified as Reed and Clark began to laugh along. "What?"

"Don't worry about it son." Reed said as he reached down and lifted Franklin off the ground and hoisted his onto his shoulders. "How about you come help daddy in his lab? Would you like that?" Franklins face lit up with glee as he nodded his head with excitement. "Great! Would you two like to join us? I can never have too many hands." Johnny shook his head.

"Sorry bro. I've got plans with the television that I don't aim to cancel." Reed gave Johnny a disappointed look as he turned to Clark.

"I think I'll pass. Last time I was in a lab Stark almost blew up Miami. The time before that I almost got killed by Luthor. And the time before that I was sent to another universe; so I'm good." A light chuckle escaped Reed as he nodded his head before turning and heading back for the door.

"Well if you change your mind, you know where I'll be." A smile came over Clarks face as Reed left the room; and a thought crossed his mind for a moment about Hank Henshaw, and how much that man had really lost… Clark regretted now, more than ever what had become of that poor man.

Clarks attention was brought back to the moment by a familiar jungle on the television; Clark turned around to see that Johnny had turned on the Animal channel and was watching a dog-show. Clark looked to Johnny in amazement as Johnny caught a glimpse of his gaze and let out a long sigh. "Yeah, I like animal shows. You got issues?"

A smile crept over Clarks face as he sat down in the chair next to Johnny. "We have this exact show in my universe." Clark said as he leaned back in his chair. "The show doesn't start until July though; you're lucky you get it earlier." The two began to laugh as the weirdness of the situation sank in for both of them.

"So… you got a favorite animal that you've seen? Or do you not pick favorites?" An adorable poodle appeared on the screen just after Johnny asked, causing him to look back to the television.

"No, I think I have a favorite. Though she's not like anything you've probably seen." Johnny looked back to Clark with an exasperated look of cockiness.

"Try me." The two exchanged glances as Clark chuckled to himself again.

"Well; back home in what I call my Fortress of Solitude;" Johnny laughed under his breath at the name, but Clark continued as if it hadn't happened. "I keep this one creature deep in the lower levels. I found him out in the Andromeda Galaxy, he was eating off the rays of a dying red-sun." Johnny turned the volume down on the television as Clark continued. "The sun was about to go Super-Nova and I had to fly in to save him. Wasn't easy either; I almost didn't make it out. But I got him back to Earth, and now I keep a baby Sun-Eater in my basement."

A look of reverence came over Johnny as he admired the courage that Clark had to do that for a creature that eats sun. "Isn't that dangerous? I mean you were scolding me for playing with fire before Reed came in; and you keeping a pet that could literally destroy your solar system." Clark shook his head as he smiled.

"It's not a mindless creature. It has a hyper-intelligence once it reaches adulthood that rivals some the smartest races I've encountered; he was easier to teach than most humans I've met." The television was paused as Johnny got to his feet.

"You want to see something really cool?" Johnny smiled as he began to head to the door, motioning Clark to follow him. "He's the coolest little guy ever; you'll love him."

_**Day 3 / 11:26 AM**_

Clark watched with bedazzlement as he looked upon a fairly large glass covered pen that was made up to look like a forest; and inside the pen Clark was shocked to see something moving so fast that it only left a strange red blur behind it as it went.

Johnny looked at Clark with a grin on his face as Clark continued to stare; he was having as much trouble keeping up to whatever was in there as he did with the Flash. "I can see you're impressed with him." Johnny said with a cocky smile as the two watched the blur do circles in the pen; a bedazzling display of electricity being generated and colliding off of the window from the creatures' movement.

Clark watched on, almost in a hypnotic trance as he watched the red blur with a look of intrigue and familiarity. He placed his hand on the window where the electricity had struck and could feel the warmth that generated off of it. Clark smiled; "What's in there?"

Johnny pressed a button beside the window that caused the gravity in the room to suspend as the blur came to a sudden slow, revealing the small red furry body of the creature that had been moving so fast. It had large black eyes, four skinny yet powerful looking legs and two arms; its' face almost resembled a foxes except it had no outer ears, and it had two small yellow stripes resembling lightening bolts that outlined its' ear holes.

Clark instantly fell in love with the appearance of the small animal as the gravity quickly turned back on and the animal turned back into a super-speeding red blur. "Believe it or not, but that little guy is the last of his kind." An empathic look appeared on Clarks face as he continued to watch the blur do random movement, occasionally stopping in the bushes where it felt concealed. "There was this thing that happened a few years back; this big bad named Thanos was hunting down these gems that…" Johnny paused and seemed to think to himself for a moment before continuing; it was obvious to Clark that Johnny had just intentionally not revealed the powers of these gems. "It doesn't matter. Point is one of them was on the planet this little guy must have called home. We don't know all of the details but this little guy was the only living creature on the planet when we all got there, and he was playing keep away with the gem. I have never seen a Cosmic Being more distressed than in that moment."

A laugh escaped Johnny as he recalled the incident. "The little guy gives off some kind of energy that Reed thinks is what gave him his speed; and the electric energy that it lets off can be monitored and collected in those things over there." Johnny pointed towards a small containment grid with what looked like an oxygen tank. "I remember one time he got out of his pen here, and not even Pietro could catch the little guy."

"I remember Pietro. He's not even close to this animals speed. What do you call him?" Intrigued by the little creature, Clark turned to Johnny hoping for more information.

"Well most of us just call him Wally on how he can literally run up walls; though Frank likes to call him Flash-Monkey." As the words escaped Johnnys' mouth, Clarks eyes went wide. He quickly looked back to the creature and watched as it began to run from its' resting place in the bush, causing spurts of electricity from where it had started. Was it really possible? Was this creature harnessing the Speed-Force?

"Hey, lets go in and say hi!" An excited tone came from Johnny as he moved closer to the door and began punching in the security code.

A worried feeling came over Clark as he watched the creature move around inside faster than he could follow. "I don't think that's a good idea? I mean, I don't want to risk causing any more trouble."

"Pfft, forget about it. You're Superman right? Anything happens and you can fix it lickity-split." Johnny grinned as the computer accepted his security code and opened the door for the two to enter. "Okay, now if he tries to run by, you catch him and put him back in the - " Before Johnny could finish his sentence, Wally came out in a blur and leapt from Johnny's chest, causing him to fall backwards.

Clark reached out to try and catch him, but Wally landed on Clark's forearm and ran circles around his chest before speeding down the back of his leg and disappearing into the lab.

"I thought you said you could catch him!" Johnny shouted as Clark looked back to him with narrow eyes.

"No. YOU said I could catch him. I was against this idea from the beginning." The irritated tone in Clarks voice was unmistakable, but Johnny either overlooked it or was trying to ignore it as he continued.

"Great, this is not how I wanted to spend my afternoon. I do not want to hear Sue say 'I told you so.' Not again." Johnny clenched his fist as a determined look came over his face. "We have to catch Wally! And we have to do it in a way that the others never find out." Johnny turned to Clark and saw the disapproving glance that he was casting.

"This really seems like the kind of thing we should tell the others about."

"Look, Clark. Okay? Let's just. I'll lock the doors. You just find him." Johnny turned to the computer and began to lock the doors to the area; yet as the large security gate began to close there was a red blur that zipped underneath. "NO!" Johnny called out as he hit the override; turning on his flames and flying out of the door after it. Clark felt compelled to follow and do what he could to help.

Clark burst in front of Johnny and did his best to keep up with the red blur, though he was just able to keep up to the point where he would see its after image. The two ended up chasing it down through a small corridor and into a solitary room with only one exit. "We got it now." Johnny said as he deactivated his flame and landed behind Clark. "Lets be quick about this. And make sure not to touch anything in that room. Reed will be super-pissed if we mess with what's in there."

The two entered the room, Johnny shut the door behind them as Clark stood ready to catch Wally if he tried to zoom by them again; but the door closed without a sign of movement. Clark could see a large half circle arch device that towered in the center of the room; there were strange nodes across the inside and a small console on the side that faced the entrance. There was a walkway that led up to the device, and below the walkway was several large power generators that were all hooked into the machine. Clark took note of a strange cord that was plugged into the console that ran through the ceiling and up to a different room.

There was a sudden gust of wind that caused Clark and Johnny to turn, and standing behind them cleaning his paws was Wally. "You little speed-demon; you don't want to cause any more trouble for your friend Johnny do you?" After Johnny finished speaking, Wally looked up to him; and Clark wasn't sure but he could swear he saw it smile before it sped off and began to do circles around the room. Running across the walls faster than Clark could keep up with.

**-**_**Several Floors above. In the Private Lab of Reed Richards-**_

"When can I push the button Daddy?" Franklin asked with delight as Reed rubbed his head; Susan was reviewing some of the data that the two had collected and smiled as she saw the two out of the corner of her eye.

"Just a few more minutes Franklin. Susan; how are we looking?" Reed picked Franklin up and held him in his arms as he approached Susan at her computer.

"I've isolated the power matrix from the Negative Zone portal, so we shouldn't have any issues with power. But I still haven't been able to find a stable point of origin." Several lights blinked on Susan's computer screen. "We can open a portal, but we have no idea if it will be where Superman is from. It could be the Planet of the Apes for all we know." Reed smiled as he looked over to Susan and placed Franklin on the ground.

"We just need to make sure we can do it for now. Once we perfect the means, then we can pin-point the destination." A smile came over Reeds face as he looked down to Franklin as he sat in anticipation on his fathers' lap. "Now Franklin!"

A bright smile of excitement came over Franklin as he glanced down to the button as if it were an obstacle he had finally been given the chance the over-come. He threw his hand into the air and slapped it against the big green button on the dash-board.

**-Back in a Room that Johnny should not be in-**

"I found him!" Clark shouted out as he looked at the small red creature as it sat precariously at the foot of the giant half circle arc device that was in the middle of the room. Yet no sooner than Clark had taken another step towards him, the machine behind the creature began to light up and make a rumbling noise as Clark could see the cords that ran into the ceiling were beginning to shake.

"What did you touch?" Johnny shouted as he came up behind Superman. "I told you not to touch anything!"

Clark looked over to Johnny in confusion as the device fully activated and a blue light poured out and engulfed the two heroes and their tiny speedy friend.

The intensity of the light seemed to have burned at Clarks eyes, and he was having trouble adjusting them. "Oh crap. Not again." He heard Johnny say as he turned around in confusion.

"What is it? What's happening?" Clark shouted as he suddenly felt Johnny place his hand around his mouth. Several moments went by with strange noises off in the distance, and then suddenly he heard a deafening scream. "No! What's happening Johnny? Are the others okay?"

"Be quiet, you're –" The next moment was met by the sound of Johnny crying out in pain as Clark could hear him hit the ground. In the next moment Clark felt something explode off of his chest and send him soaring backwards. He could feel a tremendous pain in the spot where he had been struck, and an odd sensation that he couldn't place began to trickle its way down the back of his skull.

As his vision began to return, he looked down to his chest to see a large burn mark, and what looked to be blood… his blood. Clark could only look down in shock as he slowly began to loose consciousness.


End file.
